The present disclosure relates to a gas turbine engine and, more particularly, to a combustor section therefor.
Gas turbine engines, such as those that power modern commercial and military aircraft, generally include a compressor section to pressurize an airflow, a combustor section for burning a hydrocarbon fuel in the presence of the pressurized air, and a turbine section to extract energy from the resultant combustion gases. A typical combustor section includes a shell lined with heat shields often referred to as Impingement Film Float (IFF) wall panels. Dilution holes in the heat shields are aligned with dilution holes in the shell to introduce combustion or dilution air. In addition to the dilution holes, the shell may also include numerous air impingement holes to direct cooling air between the support shell and the heat shields to cool the backside of the heat shields. This cooling air exits numerous effusion holes in the heat shields to form a cooling film on the hot side thereof.
The forward section of the combustor includes a bulkhead through which fuel nozzles extend. Over prolonged operational time, edges of the bulkhead heat shield may crack in the high temperature environment. If the bulkhead heat shield cracks, cooling air may leak and may not effectively accomplish the desired cooling.